Although most of Palin's "Today" appearance revolved around light-hearted (decidedly apolitical) subject matter—the 1990s pop group Wilson Phillips, party planning with Tori Spelling, Oprah Winfrey's cable channel—Stewart slammed Palin's assertion that she was going to "go rogue" and "infiltrate" the "lamestream media."

Rock Stars: Then and Now

Stewart offered a wordy take on Palin's political calculation.

"I think [going rogue] means you're cynically exploiting a manufactured notion of yourself as a crusader against a monolithic exclusionary activist liberal media, whilst actually enjoying a mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship with them — only to the detriment to the rest of the country," Stewart said.

"It's the 'Today' show!" Stewart added. "You're there to talk about party planning with Tori Spelling!"

Near the end of the segment, Stewart pivoted to a field segment filed by correspondent John Oliver, who interviewed Palin supporters outside Rockefeller Plaza before and during her much-touted appearance.